The air sizzles with insect song. Crickets and grasshoppers warn and wook, rubbing their musical legs. They make the sound of beans rolling in a pan, tiny bells ringing on the ankles of dancers, fingers raked over the teeth of combs, waves rolling cobbles on the shore. – Scott Russell Sanders

The Moon: The Sweet Peach Moon wanes throughout the period, entering its last quarter at 6:22 p.m. on September 6. Rising in the evening and setting in the morning, this moon passes overhead (its best position for angling) before dawn.

The Sun: The sun’s position is the same now as in early April, and the rate of the night’s expansion increases from Deep Summer’s two minutes per day to three minutes. In another week, the day’s length will drop below 13 hours.

The Planets: Remaining in Cancer, Venus rises in the east behind Orion in the morning darkness.

The Stars: With Libra and Scorpio lost in the western horizon, Cygnus, the Northern Cross, with Deneb its brightest star, is a sky guide for autumn, moving slightly west from its central August position. Leading it on, just a little further west, is Lira and its major star, Vega. Below Cygnus lies Aquila and its keystone, Altair.

Weather Trends: Weather history suggests that the cold waves of Early Fall usually cross the Mississippi River on or about the following dates: September 2, 8, 12, 15, 20, 24 and 29. Tornadoes, hail, floods or prolonged periods of soggy pasture are most likely to occur in connection with tropical storms near new moon on September 14 and especially at lunar perigee (September 28) and full moon the following day. Throughout the northern tier if states, frost is likely as October approaches.

The effects of the first September cold wave usually appear by the 2nd, which is the first day since June 4th that 90s become unlikely. Then on the 3rd, there is a 55 percent chance of highs only in the 70s. The 4th also brings a good chance of chilly weather, and it begins the long period of the year during which there is at least a 10 percent chance of highs below 70 degrees. Warmer conditions typically return on the 5th and 6th, but the second high-pressure system of the month, which arrives between the 5th and 11th, brings lows into the 30s one year in 20.

Natural Calendar: Berries are red on the silver olives, orange on the American mountain ash, purple on the pokeweed. Wild cherries have disappeared from their branches. Touch-me-nots burst at the slightest touch. Cobwebs are everywhere in the woods, and the number of butterflies swells in the gardens. When the days are cool, the cicadas are quiet. On the colder nights, the katydids refuse to chant and the frogs are silent. Sandhill cranes start to arrive in Midwestern wetlands on their way to the Gulf of Mexico. Doves stop calling before dawn until February. Kingbirds, finches, ruddy ducks, herring gulls and yellow-bellied sapsuckers move south. The last young grackles and hummingbirds leave their nests.

In the Field and Garden: Cottonwoods fade as the goldenrod turns and the soybean fields yellow. The commercial tomato harvest is half complete, and four out of every 10 potatoes have been dug. Some soybeans are beginning to shed, and the harvest has begun in southern counties. Twenty-five percent of the corn is often mature by the end of this week, and the silage cutting picks up speed.

Peak activity times for creatures 

When the moon is above the continental United States, creatures are typically most active. The second-most-active times occur when the moon is below the Earth.

Activity is likely to increase at new moon and full moon and at perigee (when the moon is closest to Earth), especially as the barometer falls in advance of cold fronts near those dates.

Date             Best             Second-Best

Sept. 1-6:     Mornings       Evenings

Sept. 7-14:   Afternoons   Middle of the        Night

Sept. 15-22:  Evenings.      Mornings

Sept. 23-30:  Midnight to Dawn   

     Afternoons

Mind and Body: With seasonal stress low and your body full of autumn energy, make one more set of New Year’s resolutions. These will reflect lessons learned since January, and perhaps some new priorities. Then plan to make one more set of resolutions on November 1, after most of the leaves have fallen. These will have a different, winter perspective, and they will carry you through the Christmas rush, leading you once again to January projections.

Almanack Classics

Smart Critters!

By Bill Wiseman

Oh! You won’t believe the trouble I’ve had with critters this year coming into the barn and my workshop. We have a cat door from outside into the barn and another into the workshop. I found out that the most destructive ones that get in are the cute raccoons.

They get really angry if they don’t find any food. They have knocked over work projects, have messed up some equipment, and they ate a hole in the glue bottle to see what was in it. What a mess!

I thought, “I’ll fix them.” 

I took an old birdcage and made a trap. Oh! I caught some. No trouble at all. Except the critters with their perseverance and strong sharp claws and teeth tore the cage to smithereens.

Well, I’m not going to let a raccoon outsmart me. I went out and bought a brand new shining critter trap. Boy, this will fix them! I won’t hurt them…only carry the little rascals to a greater and better place far away.

Success the first night! I got Grandpa Raccoon in the trap. The second night, I didn’t understand what happened. The bait was gone. The trap door closed, plus the whole trap was moved five feet away?? How in the world could they do that?

Well, I set it again and watched till late at night. Two raccoons paired up and came into the trap together. The first one went to the food, and the second one was under the door and held it open when it released, and they both scrambled out with food.

The next night, I set it again and got out my night vision binoculars to watch. They are getting real smart now. The pair comes up and one decides to hold open the door with its shoulder while the other goes in and brings out the food that they both share.

The traps are guaranteed for breakage under normal use, but not guaranteed to outsmart the critters.

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S SCKRAMBLER

HSIULB BLUISH

YIOHSB BOYISH

DLHHCIIS CHILDISH

VLHSIA LAVISH

NABHSI BANISH

HIANSV VANISH

FHSMAI FAMISH

DADIKHS KADDISH

NINSAMH MANNISH

ERIPHS PERISH

THIS WEEK’S RHYMING SCKRAMBLER

OAOLNLB  

NOBABO  

ONOM  

OONN  

SOPON  

OLON  

RONAMO  

NWOOS  

GALNOO  

CORONAC

In order to estimate your SCKRAMBLER IQ, award yourself 15 points for each word unscrambled, adding a 50-point bonus for getting all of them correct. If you find a typo, add another 15 points to your IQ. Yes, you are a genius.

Copyright 2023 – W. L. Felker